This invention is in the general area of genetic engineering of nucleic acid sequences, especially RNA sequences having protein encoding or ribozyme activity derived from hepatitis delta virus.
Constructing vectors for delivery of therapeutic ribozymes and/or mRNA sequences to target cells is a difficult challenge. In U.S. patent application Ser. No.07/411,713, vectors created from retroviruses were described as a means for delivering therapeutic ribozymes capable of cleaving viral mRNAs to limit viral infections. In one embodiment, the ribozyme from the RNA of the hepatitis delta virus in combination with appropriate T-cell specific retroviruses was described as a means of targeting and cleaving RNAs in cells infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). U.S. patent application Ser. No.07/411,713 also outlined a method to use the delta viral RNA genome as a vector, carrying information from one cell to another.